Siman 688, Se'if 7 · Understanding the word "ha-mefaresh"

Shulchan Aruch, Siman 688, se'if 7
"One who sets out to sea, or who leaves with a caravan, and cannot obtain a megillah to take along with him, should read it on the 13th, the 12th, or the 11th, without a berachah. And if he cannot wait even until those days, some say that he may read it even from the beginning of the month."
(Shulchan Aruch)

(The laws of Purim Meshulash, and of a resident of an open city who traveled to a walled city, have been put off for another time, since they are complicated and less common; we begin with the cases that come up more often.)

Understanding the word "ha-mefaresh"

• Two ways to vocalize it: It can be read "ha-mefares," from the spreading of a ship's sail, or "ha-mefaresh," from the root meaning to separate. According to Rashi it refers to one who separates himself from dry land and heads out to sea, setting off on a voyage. Both readings are legitimate.

The basis of the halachah: the takanah for villagers to read on the market day

• The three times in the Mishnah: The opening Mishnah in Maseches Megillah establishes that cities surrounded by a wall read on the 15th, unwalled towns read on the 14th, and villages read early, on the "yom ha-kenisah," the day people gather in town.
• The difficulty of the villagers: Villages are not walled, so by law their time is the 14th. The problem is that their populations are small: it is hard to assemble a minyan, and even when there is a minyan, there is nobody among them who knows how to read the megillah properly.
• The leniency: The villagers come into the city on the gathering days, and since they are there anyway, one of the city residents who is expert in the reading reads the megillah for them, with a berachah and as a full-fledged reading in every respect.
• What are the gathering days: Mondays and Thursdays. The simple explanation is that these were market days; some add that on these days the batei din sat in the cities, so anyone with a case to bring would come up to town.
• The days that were permitted: The 11th, 12th and 13th of Adar. If one of them falls on a Monday or Thursday, the villagers read on that day, even though the city residents themselves will read only on the 14th.

The source for reading early: "bi-zmaneihem"

• A plural that includes more: The megillah says, "to observe these days of Purim bi-zmaneihem," in their times, and not "in their time." From the plural Chazal derived that there are additional times beyond the two official ones, namely the 11th, 12th and 13th.
• Deriving from the megillah: Note that we expound the wording of the megillah the same way we expound verses of the Torah.
• What the early reading includes: These days are not actually Purim; they serve only as an alternate time for reading the megillah.
• Nowadays: The takanah for villagers itself has lapsed and is not practiced today, but remnants of it remain in the halachos before us, such as one traveling with a caravan or setting out to sea.

Se'if 7: one who sets out on a journey without a megillah

"And cannot obtain a megillah: but if he could obtain one, he would be obligated to take it and read on the 14th."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 19)

• The primary time comes first: Someone who is going on a trip or off to reserve duty and knows he will be in a place where there is no megillah, but who can obtain a kosher megillah and take it with him, is obligated to do so and to read on the 14th, even by himself. A minyan is preferable, but even alone he should read on the 14th, which is the primary and choicest time.
• When it is simply impossible: Only when it is clear that he will have no megillah at all does he read early, on the 13th, 12th or 11th, and without a berachah.

A reading not in its time, with ten

"He should read it on the 13th: with a gathering of ten, since a reading not in its proper time requires ten. And if there are not ten in the town, after the fact he fulfills his obligation even alone. And it is possible that minors or women suffice, since the requirement here is only for pirsumei nisa."
(Mishnah Berurah)

• Why ten are required: A reading outside its proper time lacks the publicizing of the miracle, so some are stringent that it be done specifically with ten, which itself provides publicity.
• After the fact: If there are not ten, some hold that he fulfills his obligation even alone, even though there is no publicizing of the miracle.
• Who counts toward this ten: Since the entire purpose of the ten here is pirsumei nisa, it is possible that even minors or women suffice, since the main thing is that word of the miracle goes out. This raises the question whether a minyan in the technical sense is needed, meaning ten adult men obligated in mitzvos, or whether any gathering of ten will do.

The Ran's question: the nighttime reading

• The question regarding villagers: The Ran raises a doubt about villagers who read early: must they read at night as well, or is the daytime reading enough? After all, the daytime reading is the primary one and the nighttime reading is secondary to it. And since in any case this is not the real time, perhaps we do not insist on both readings.
• The same applies to a traveler: The identical question applies to those at sea and those traveling with a caravan.
• The view of the Taz: His words imply somewhat that one must read at night as well.

What may be moved up and what stays in its time

"Know further that this leniency for those traveling with a caravan and those at sea applies only to the reading of the megillah; but the Purim seudah, mishloach manos and matanos la'evyonim are only in their proper time."
(Mishnah Berurah)

• The parameter: The leniency is limited to the megillah reading alone, because that is what "bi-zmaneihem" was expounded about. The other mitzvos of the day remain at their fixed time.

Reading from the beginning of the month

"As it is written, 'and the month that was transformed for them from sorrow to joy and from mourning to a festive day.'"
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 21)

• The source in the Yerushalmi: From the word "the month" they derived that the entire month stands under the sign of this transformation to joy, not only the days of the miracle themselves. After all, nothing was transformed for them on Rosh Chodesh, and yet the verse describes the whole month as a month of joy, in line with "when Adar enters we increase in joy."
• In practice: One who cannot wait even until the 11th, some say may read even from the beginning of the month, without a berachah.

The Rema: if he later obtains a megillah

"If a megillah later becomes available to him, he goes back and reads it on the 14th."
(Rema)

"On the 14th: meaning with its berachos, since that is its primary time."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 22)

• The reason: What he read earlier was not at the choicest time, so if a megillah turns up in the place where he now is, he reads again on the 14th, this time with the berachos, like any reading at its proper time.

Se'if 8: a megillah becomes available to him on the 15th

"A resident of an open city who was on a ship or on the road and had no megillah with him, and afterward one became available to him on the 15th, reads it on the 15th."
(Shulchan Aruch)

"Reads it: and without a berachah, since its primary time has already passed. But from the 16th onward he does not read at all, as it is written, 'and it shall not pass.'"
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 23)

• What this se'if adds: At first glance the se'if seems superfluous, since anyone may read the megillah without a berachah at any time. The novelty is that this is not optional but obligatory: someone who heard no megillah at all, not on the 11th, 12th, 13th or 14th, is obligated to read on the 15th when one becomes available to him, only that he reads without a berachah.
• From the 16th onward: The verse says "and it shall not pass," so we can no longer obligate him. There is no prohibition against reading the megillah, but we cannot impose an obligation on him to read it on the 16th or 17th.
• The case of a resident of an open city who was in Yerushalayim on the 15th: That question depends on the laws of paruz and mukaf: when he left his own city, when he arrived in the walled city, whether he must be there at night or whether arriving during the day suffices, and how long he must remain there. These halachos are complicated and were not covered here.

The Gemara: why only earlier and not later

• The Gemara's question: From the plural "bi-zmaneihem" we learned two additional days. The 13th is in any case clearly a special day, the day of assembly and the day of battle. So the two days added by the plural are the 11th and the 12th. The Gemara asks: perhaps say the 16th and the 17th instead?
• The answer: The verse says "and it shall not pass." Reading earlier is possible, but pushing it off to the 16th or 17th means letting the time pass.

If they mistakenly read in Adar Rishon

• The halachah: The four parshiyos and the megillah are pushed off to Adar Sheni, which is the primary Adar. If they erred and read them in Adar Rishon, they must go back and read again in Adar Sheni.
• The reason: Everything must be done at its proper time, and a reading not at its time is no reading at all, just as one does not fulfill the obligation by reading the megillah in a different month. The repeated reading in Adar Sheni is done with the berachos and with all its usual laws.

In passing · Hints and customs of the days surrounding Purim

1. A hint to the five times in the word "Purim"

• The words of Rav Shlomo HaKohen of Vilna: One of the dayanim of Vilna noted an interesting hint beyond the derashah from "bi-zmaneihem": the word "Purim" appears in the megillah five times, corresponding to the five days, the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th.
• Full and defective spelling: Twice it is written full, with a vav, corresponding to the 14th and 15th, which are the real Purim, and three times it is written without the vav, corresponding to the three days that are not truly Purim but only an alternate time for reading.

2. Accepted seforim and ruach hakodesh

• The megillah was written with ruach hakodesh: According to our tradition, "And Esther the queen and Mordechai the Jew wrote," and their writing was with ruach hakodesh. The Gemara brings a proof from the verse "And Haman said in his heart," since no person can know what another person is thinking. Some have discussed and challenged these proofs, but the principle itself is agreed upon.
• The same principle in the seforim of the poskim: A sefer that has been accepted by all of Klal Yisrael, such as the Rambam or the Shulchan Aruch, had siyata di'shmaya and ruach hakodesh resting upon it. Therefore we scrutinize every word in it, and even if the author himself did not intend a particular inference, the Ribono Shel Olam guided him to phrase it that way, and nothing in it is accidental. So says Rav Yonasan Eybeschutz, and others follow his approach.

3. Tachanun on the 11th, 12th and 13th

• The custom in some chassidic groups: There are chassidic communities that do not say tachanun on these days, since they are potentially days fit for reading the megillah and carry something of the special quality of Megillas Esther. Not all chassidic groups do this, and it is not the widespread custom, but it is worth knowing.
• An additional reason: Purim as a receiving of the Torah: The Gemara relates that Mar brei d'Ravina would fast the entire year except for Purim, erev Yom Kippur and Shavuos. Erev Yom Kippur has its own particular mitzvah, so we find that Purim was placed on par with Shavuos.
• "They accepted it again in the days of Achashverosh": At Har Sinai the verse says "and they stood at the foot of the mountain," and Chazal expounded that He held the mountain over them like a barrel, meaning that the acceptance of the Torah was under compulsion. In the days of Achashverosh they accepted it again willingly, because of the miracle and because their lives had been on the line.
• The three days of hagbalah: Based on this, chassidus says that just as the giving of the Torah in Sivan was preceded by three days of hagbalah, on which tachanun is not said, so too the receiving of the Torah on Purim is preceded by the 11th, 12th and 13th, as its three days of hagbalah.
• The difficulty with the 13th: The 13th of Adar is Ta'anis Esther, and we say selichos on it. Some answer that the two are not connected: the fact that a day is a fast day does not automatically require nefilas apayim, and these are two separate matters. In practice the ruling is to say it, though there are those who do not fall on their faces that day.
• From Rosh Chodesh: Even according to the lenient views, there is no opinion to omit tachanun from Rosh Chodesh Adar. The leniency was said only about the 11th, 12th and 13th.

4. Tachanun on the 16th and 17th

• The words of Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin: There are those who do not say tachanun on the 16th and 17th either, because the Gemara itself raised the possibility, "perhaps say the 16th and 17th." Even a hava amina of the Gemara has substance to it, and just as a sage's reasoning that was rejected can sometimes be relied upon in a pressing situation, so too the very fact that these days were raised shows that they carry a certain power; otherwise the suggestion would never have been made at all.
• The 16th is stronger: Some say that for the 16th we do not even need the Gemara's hava amina, since in Purim Meshulash, when the 15th falls on Shabbos, Yerushalayim divides the day into three: the megillah reading on Friday, the 14th; the Torah reading and Al HaNissim on Shabbos; and the Purim seudah on Sunday, which is the 16th. So the 16th actually has the potential of an actual Purim seudah.
• The parameter: Even though the verse says "and it shall not pass," so the megillah cannot be read on the 16th, that restriction applies only to the reading and not to the other aspects of Purim. Hence there is room to say that we do not fall on our faces on that day.
• In practice: This is not the accepted practice, but there are chassidic communities that do not say tachanun on the 16th and 17th, and their custom has what to rely on.